Sub-Project on Disease Resistance in Banana
Working Period : 2004 - 2010 (Terminated)
Participating Countries : Bangladesh (2007 - ), Indonesia ( - 2006), Japan, Malaysia, The Philippines, Vietnam
Banana is one of the main food crops in the world. It is consumed not only for fruits but also for cooking in Asia and it is very important for export item in tropical countries.
Meanwhile, most varieties of banana are triploid and they do not produce seeds, so breeding research has not been advanced in the field of disease resistance. Therefore we have serious problem about loss of yield and quality caused by Fusarium wilt disease and banana bunchy top disease. For these reasons, mutation breeding with irradiation is expected as an effective method that we can get new resistant variety for such diseases.
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Banana infected by fusarium wilt disease |
Field test in Malaysia Infected plants have yellow leaves
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"Sub-Project on Disease Resistance in Banana" was started in 2004, with the participation of Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia (as the leading country), The Philippines and Vietnam. The aim was to develop new variety with resistance to Fusarium wilt disease and banana bunchy top disease.
(Memorandum of Project Formulation Meeting for "Disease Resistance in Banana" (The Philippines, 2003))
At first, it was started to unify the materials and methods for irradiation, inoculation of pathogens and evaluation among participating countries. Expert meetings were held separately from Workshop to have more active discussions. As a result, most participating countries got promising mutant lines, respectively. Especially for Malaysia and the Philippines, they succeeded to transfer their technology to private companies for commercialization. The activity of this sub-project was terminated in 2010, successfully.
Sub-Project Meeting on Disease Resistance in Banana (Malaysia, 2008)
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In the future, it is expected that these mutant lines will be registered, disseminated, or used expansively for materials of further breeding research.
Furthermore, the outcome of research activity, "Achievement of Sub-Project on Disease Resistance in Banana", was published in March 2011. ("Achievement of Sub-Project on Disease Resistance in Banana")
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